I produced this research for a course taught by Dr Masaki Mori, in April 2012. The paper was originally in Japanese and I've translated it here.
芥川龍之介作の「羅生門」という短編小説の中に動物にまつわる表現が幾つかあり、処によって異なる効果を醸し出している。全編にわたって動物に関する表現は背景を設定するのに、そして、下人と老婆を非人間的にするのに用いられる。最後の追い剥ぎの場面に動物表現がない事は、要するに道徳というものは人間が定めるのだと主張しているのであろう。
In the short story "Rashōmon" by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, the author uses multiple metaphorical expressions related to animals for various textual effects. Throughout the work, expressions invoking animals are used to set the background and dehumanize the two main characters. The lack of animal related metaphors in the final scene where the old woman is stripped of her clothes suggests that morality is something that can only be decided by humans.
小説の初めでは動物表現の多くは背景を表す為に使われている。「朱雀大路」という通りの名前が意図的に言及されており、動物に関する表現である。羅生門が都心を貫通する大通りの入り口にあるから重要で、それが修理されていないので事態が異常である事を示す上、鳳凰の形の朱雀は四神の一つで、南の方角を表す象徴的動物である。また、烏の回っている「鴟尾」というものは鯱（しゃち）とも呼ばれ、姿は魚で頭は虎という想像上の動物の形をしている。「申」という時刻は古代中国の十二支の象徴的動物に由来する。羅生門の周辺にキリギリスや狐や狸、烏などが棲む事と、泥棒が狐狸に喩えられる事で、話は朱雀や鯱や十二支を生み出した文明が繁栄した世界から頽廃した人間界に移って人間達が非人間的になる段階を描いていく。
At the beginning of the short story, most of the expressions related to animals are used to establish the background of the narrative. The narration intentionally references the name of the main thoroughfare through the city where the Rashōmon gate is located] as the "Vermilion Bird Road"; this bird (suzaku) that appears in the form of a phoenix represents the southern direction, as one of the four mythical creatures of ancient China that represent the cardinal directions. In this case, the suzaku represents the most important southern approach to the city. That the main gate has fallen into disrepair shows the dire state of the times. Furthermore, the text references crows surrounding an ornamental roof tile called a shibi, which traditionally takes the shape of a mythical creature called the shachi that has the body of a fish with the head of a tiger. Also, the text references the hour of shin, or the monkey, which is taken from the Chinese zodiac. Around the Rashōmon gate live animals like grasshoppers, foxes, raccoon dogs, and crows, and thieves are compared to foxes. The narrative thus illustrates the process of dehumanization, from the world that once flourished with the culture that produced legendary animals like the suzaku, the shachi, and the Chinese zodiac, to the current rotten state of the human realm.
下人が羅生門を登る所からその動物的比喩が始まり、「猫のように身をちぢめて」、そして「守宮のように足首をぬすんで」という描写と共に非人間的な世界に入る。つまり、天井に棲む蜘蛛のようなレベルの低い存在になり、「土を捏ねて造った人形のように」人間らしさを失ってしまう。その人間らしさを欠いた世界に隠棲する老婆は最も動物に喩えられる。「鶏の脚のような」腕で「猿の子の虱をとるように」髪の毛を抜いて「肉食鳥のような」目で下人を見て「鴉の啼くような」、そして「蟇のつぶやくような声で」話をし、その話の中に蛇と魚が登場する。最初に言及された伝説上の動物と比べて遥かにレベルの低い存在の動物ばかりで、人に容易に支配される種類であるから、老婆が陥った、人間らしさのない状況を象徴する。
The animal metaphors begin when the protagonist ascends the Rashōmon gate, with metaphors such as "curling up his body like a cat" and "creeping like a lizard" suggesting that he has entered a non-human world. Basically, he becomes something as lowly as a spider on the ceiling, and loses his humanity, becoming "like a figurine made of clay." The old woman who resides in this inhumane world is even further dehumanized. She has arms "like the legs of a chicken" that she uses to pluck hairs "like a kid monkey plucking lice", eyes "like a raptor", and a voice "like the caw a crow" or "the croaking of a toad." In her speech, she refers to snakes and fish. Compared to the legendary creatures mentioned at the outset of the story, these are all lowly animals easily dominated by humans, symbolizing the inhumane world into which the old woman has fallen.
老婆の話の趣旨は、死んだ女が生きている間詐欺行為をしたから社会的道義に適う扱いに値しないという事だ。しかしながら、詐欺をしたと雖も二種の動物を取り換えたに過ぎない。ある地方には蛇を平常に食べる人達があり、食習慣が場所によって異なると同じように善悪は状況によって変わってくる。下人は老婆の話を聞くうちにその事に忽然として気づき、出来ないと思い込んでいたけれども実は自分が出来る事を考え、老婆の着物を奪って逃走する。
最後の処に動物に関する表現が一つもない事のは、正義や道徳等の問題が人間の独占事項だからであろう。つまり、幾ら動物に比べられるとしても、何が善くて何が悪いかを弁えるのは人間しか出来ない。それに、人間は他の生き物を支配する事で自己の価値観を形成する一方、下人のように自分の都合で急に道徳を捨てる事もある。時代が変わると羅生門が顧みられなくなると同様に、状況が変わると道徳が廃れてしまうのだ。
The gist of the old woman's story is that the dead woman doesn't deserve humane treatment because she was a scammer while alive. However, though it was a scam, she simply swapped one animal for another. In some places people regularly eat snakes, and like culinary habits, what is considered right and wrong changes based on the circumstances. It seems the protagonist realizes this while listening to the woman's speech, and thinks of what he can now do that he thought was impermissible, and thus he absconds with the woman's clothes. That there are no animal metaphors in this final scene suggests that problems of justice and morality are the exclusive domain of humans. In other words, no matter how they may be compared to animals, only humans can differentiate right from wrong. Also, just as humans dominate other living things to establish their self worth, there are times where humans abandon morality. Just as the splendid Rashōmon gate went unattended and fell into disrepair after times changed, so can morality fester when the circumstances change.